DISSERTATION 


MiAiTi  ®w  mmmmmmmATimi^ 


GARDINER  SPRING, 

TASTOR    OF   THE    BRICK    PRESBYTERIAX   C'HIRCH 
IN    THE    CITY    OF   NEW-YORK. 


Jieiij=^ouk, 


PRINTED  BY  JOHN  T,  WEST, 
NKW-YORK  OBSERVER  OFFICE  65  REED-STREET,  A  FEW  KOOR.- 


WEST  OF  BROADWAV. 


1828. 


Southern  District  of  jVew-York,  ss. 

Be  it  remembkred,  That  on  the  7th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1827,  in  the 
5 1st  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America,  John  P. 
Haven  of  the  said  District,  hath  deposited  in  this  office  the  title  of  a  Book, 
the  rig-ht  whereof  he  claims  as  Proprietor,  in  the  words  following,  to  wit : 

"  A  Dissertation  on  the  Means  of  Regeneration.  By  Gardiner  Spring-. 
Pastor  of  the  Brick  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of  New-York." 

In  conformity  to  the  Act  of  Congress  of  the  United  States,  entitled 
"  An  Act  for  the  encouragement  of  Learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of 
Maps,  Charts,  and  Books,  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies, 
during  the  time  therein  mentioned."  And  also  to  an  Act,  entitled  "An 
Act  supplementary  to  an  Act,  entitled  an  Act  for  the  encouragement  of 
Learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  Maps,  Charts,  and  Books,  to  the 
authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  time  therein  mentioned, 
and  extending  the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing,  engraving,  and 
etching  historical  and  other  prints." 

FREDERICK  L  BETTS, 
Clerk  of  the  Southern  District  of  Kew-York. 


DISSERTATION,  &c. 


There  is  a  very  desirable  harmony  of  views 
among  all  evangelical  men,  in  relation  to  the  reality 
and  importance  of  that  radical  transformation  of 
character,  which  the  Scriptures  call  regeneration. 
The  necessity  of  this  change  lies  in  the  total  sinful- 
ness of  all  mankind  by  nature;  the  cause  or  author 
of  it  is  the  Holy  Spirit ;  the  change  itself  consists 
in  the  commencement  of  holiness  in  the  heart ;  and 
the  means  by  which  it  is  brought  about  are  com- 
prised in  the  varied  exhibitions  of  the  truth  of  God. 
This  unillustrated  statement  would  probably  meet 
the  views  of  all  who  love  and  preach  the  essential  and 
fundamental  principles  of  the  Gospel.  There  is  one 
branch  of  this  subject,  however,  on  which  there  is  at 
least,  the  semblance  of  controversy  between  men 
who  are  equally  attached  to  the  doctrines  of  grace, 
— I  allude  to  the  means  of  regeneration.  These 
may  all  be  comprised  in  the  truth  of  God.  When 
we  say  the  truth  of  God  is  the  appointed  means  of 
regeneration,  we  mean  the  truth  of  God  as  published 
by  God  himself,  and  as  attended  to  by  unregenerated 
men.  By  a  variety  of  methods,  God  has  diffused 
his  truth  over  different  portions  of  the  earth ;  and 
thus  He  is  using  the  means  of  regeneration.  In 
different  wa vs.  unregenerated  men  are  directing  their 


attention  to  the  truth  of  God;  and  thus  they  are 
using  the  means  of  regeneration.  It  is  important 
to  a  right  interpretation  of  many  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture which  speak  of  means,  as  well  as  to  a  full  and 
just  view  of  the  subject,  to  make  the  distinction  be- 
tween means  as  used  by  God  with  unregenerated 
men,  and  m,eans  as  used  by  the  unregenerate  them- 
selves. This  general  view  we  propose  to  exhibit  in 
the  following  Dissertation. 

It  is  of  some  importance  that  our  minds  be  satis- 
fied that  there  are  means  of  regeneration  appointed 
by  God.  This  sentiment  is  abundantly  inculcated 
in  the  Scriptures.  "  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect, 
converting  the  soul."  '•  Is  not  my  word  as  a  fire, 
and  like  a  hammer  that  breaketh  the  rock  in  pieces  .'^'' 
''  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  for  it  is 
the  power  of  God  to  salvation."  "  Of  his  own  will 
bejrat  he  us  with  the  word  of  truth."  "  Faith  cometh 
by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God."  "  It 
pleased  God  by  the  foohshness  of  preaching  to  save 
them  that  believe."  "  In  Christ  Jesus,  have  I  begot- 
ten you  through  the  Gospel."  "Being  born  again, 
not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  by  the 
word  of  God."  "  I  have  planted,  Apollos  watered, 
but  God  gave  the  increase."  "  Neither  pray  I  for 
these  alone,  but  for  them  which  shall  believe  on  me 
through  their  word."  The  Scriptures  uniformly  re- 
present the  kingdom  of  grace  as  a  kingdom  of  means. 
Though  God  himself  renews  the  heart,  it  is  not  with- 
out the  instruments  and  means  of  his  own  appoint- 
ment. 


We  have  confirmation  of  this  truth  in  tlie  resuUs 
of  universal  observation  and  experience.  Apart  from 
the  regeneration  of  infants,  so  far  as  is  known  to  us, 
God  never  regenerates  the  soul  w^ithout  means. 
The  whole  history  of  experimental  piety  demon- 
strates nothing  more  conclusively,  than  that  wherever 
God  sends  the  regenerating  influences  of  his  Spirit, 
he  sends  the  means  of  regeneration.  It  is  not 
denied  that  God  can  regenerate  men  without  means ; 
bui  does  he  regenerate  them  without  means  ? 
The  God  of  nature  can  create  a  harvest  of  grain 
amid  the  wilds  of  an  uncultivated  and  untrodden 
forest ; — but  where  has  he  done  it  ?  And  the  God 
of  grace  can  arrest  the  attention  of  men,  and  con- 
vince them  of  sin,  and  lay  them  at  the  footstool  of 
mercy,  without  the  aid  of  religious  privileges ; — but 
where  has  he  done  it  ?  We  may  not  aflirm  that  he 
cannot  convey  to  the  mind  enveloped  in  thickest 
darkness,  some  rays  of  heavenly  light.  It  is  possible 
that  truth  may  be  communicated  to  a  benighted 
pagan,  through  the  medium  of  some  of  the  works  of 
God,  and  that  a  mere  babe  in  Christ  may  be  born, 
where  the  light  of  revelation  never  shone ;  but  is  it 
a  reality  ?  Where  have  men  been  regenerated  with- 
out the  means  of  regeneration  ?  Was  it  in  Jerusa- 
lem on  the  day  of  Pentecost  ?  Was  it  on  the  heart 
of  the  eunuch  of  Ethiopia.^  Was  it  in  the  family 
of  Cornelius  ?  Was  it  in  the  land  of  our  forefathers 
on  the  other  side  the  Western  Ocean  ?  Was  it  here 
in  this  new  world  .^^  Or  amid  all  these  scenes  of 
divine  mercv-  do  vou  discover  the  visitations  of  a 


particular  providence,  preparing  the  way  for  the  Son 
of  Man,  and  preventing  his  Spirit  by  the  mission  of 
his  word  ?  The  truth  is,  men  must  be  placed  under 
the  dispensations  of  the  Gospel;  they  must  attend 
on  the  means  of  instruction ;  they  must  be  roused 
from  their  indifference  to  God  and  eternity;  they 
must  be  affected  by  the  obligations  and  motives  to 
personal  godliness;  they  must  become  acquainted 
with  the  method  of  salvation ;  or  they  never  will 
become  thoughtful,  anxious,  convinced  sinners,  and 
be  never  born  of  God,  and  made  heirs  of  heaven. 

To  confirm  this  representation,  we  may  advert  to 
the  actual  condition  of  those  who  are  destitute  of  the 
means  of  God's  appointment.  What  is  their  cha- 
racter ?  What  are  their  hopes  and  prospects  ?  Sur- 
vey those  countries  from  which  the  Lord  of  heaven 
and  earth  has,  in  his  holy  supremacy,  withheld  his 
Spirit,  and  you  will  fix  precisely  on  those  from  which 
he  has  withheld  the  means  of  regeneration.  Fix 
your  eye  upon  the  continent  or  the  kingdom  where 
the  light  of  revelation  never  shines,  where  the  voice 
of  the  living  ministry  is  never  heard,  where  the  holy 
Sabbath  never  detaches  the  minds  of  men  from  their 
habitual  absorption  in  things  seen  and  temporal,  to 
the  solemn  contemplation  of  things  unseen  and  etei'- 
nal ;  and  you  shall  find  the  land  where  men  grope  in 
darkness,  and  stumble  upon  the  mountains  of  death 
— where  human  impiety  becomes  the  source  of  all 
that  IS  vile  and  cruel,  all  that  is  intemperate  and 
licentious,  all  that  is  earthly,  sensual,  and  devilish, 
and  where,  if  you  pass  through  this  moral  wilder- 


Ht'ss,  in  tlie  length  of  it  and  in  the  breadth  of  it, 
you  shall  not  see  one  indigenous  plant  of  righteous- 
ness. Or  if  you  will  be  more  minute  in  your  survey, 
and  examine  the  character  of  the  city,  the  village, 
the  hamlet,  the  neighbourhood,  the  family,  the  indi- 
vidual, that  is  destitute  of  the  means  of  regeneration: 
without  fear  of  contradiction  may  it  be  asserted, 
that  from  the  multitude  to  the  individual,  all  will  be 
found  destitute  of  vital  godliness.  The  Omniscient 
God  has  said  of  such  portions  of  the  earth,  "  Where 
no  vision  is  the  people  perish."  Over  the  abodes  of 
such  men,  the  finger  of  the  Omnipotent  has  inscribed, 
'*  Without  hope  and  without  God  in  the  world."  On 
all  their  conduct,  the  divine  holiness  has  imprinted 
the  label,  "  Abominable,  disobedient,  and  to  every 
good  work  reprobate." 

If  from  facts  already  past  and  now  extant,  we  look 
into  futurity,  with  equal  certainty  do  we  see  all  the 
predictions  relative  to  the  extension  of  holiness  in 
the  earth,  parallel  with  the  means  used  for  the  con- 
version of  men.  When  Prophets  foretel  the  glory 
of  the  Messiah  and  the  enlargement  of  his  empire, 
they  speak  of  the  wonders  of  that  coming  day  as 
accomplished  only  through  the  instrumentality  of 
truth.  "  Many  shall  run  to  and  fro,  and  knowledge 
shall  be  increased."  "  The  Lord  God  shall  take  off 
the  veil  of  the  covering  from  the  face  of  all  nations." 
"  I  saw  an  angel  fly  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  having 
the  everlasting  Gospel  to  preach  unto  them  that 
dwell  on  the  earth."  But  it  is  needless  to  extend 
this  illustration.     Both  the  Scriptures  and  oberva- 


8 

tion  substantiate  the  fact  that  there  are  means  of 
regeneration  of  God's  appointment. 

The  means  which  God  has  appointed  for  the  re- 
generation of  men  are  many  and  various.  If  we 
w  ere  to  enumerate  them,  we  should  say,  among  the 
most  important  are,  the  Holy  Scriptures, — the  Chris- 
tian Ministry, — the  Sabbath, — the  worship  of  God 
in  the  Sanctuary, — the  rehgious  services  of  the  fa- 
mily,— social,  private,  and  secret  prayer,  together 
with  the  religious  education  of  children.  What- 
ever, in  a  word,  is  adapted  to  arrest  the  attention 
of  men  to  moral  and  spiritual  objects,  may  be  con- 
sidered a  means  of  regeneration.  In  whatever  form 
the  truth  of  God  is  presented  to  the  mind,  whether 
commingling  with  religious  conversation,  or  held  up 
to  the  perceptions  in  serious  contemplation  and 
prayer,  it  is  the  means  of  regeneration..  God  ad- 
dresses men  in  all  the  variety  of  instruction,  by  all 
the  force  of  authority,  by  all  the  terrors  of  his  judg- 
ment, and  all  the  persuasions  of  his  mercy,  by  all 
the  frowns  and  smiles  of  his  providence,  and  by  the 
frequent  and  powerful  strivings  of  his  Spirit. 

Not  only  does  he  use  means  with  them  in  great 
variety,  but  with  unfeigned  sincerity  and  urgency. 
All  the  means  of  regeneration  are  accompanied  with 
the  most  solemn  declarations  of  his  desire  that  they 
may  prove  effectual.  That  they  are  no  artificial 
measures  will  appear  to  any  one  who  reads  the  Bible. 
There  is  nothing  either  in  the  instructions  which 
God  has  there  communicated,  or  the  law  he  has  there 
proclaimed,  or   invitations  of  mercy  he  has  there 


announced,  which  looks  like  acting  a  part,  or  which 
partakes  of  cold  formality.  In  every  sentence  and 
every  line,  he  is  in  earnest.  He  pleads  with  men 
with  awful  solemnity  and  unutterable  tenderness. 
As  though  he  knew  the  time  would  come  when  they 
would  mourn  at  the  remembrance  of  privileges 
which  they  slighted,  he  says, "  Oh  that  they  were  wise, 
that  they  understood  this,  that  they  would  consider 
their  latter  end !"  As  though  he  would  suppress  every 
thought  of  insincerity  on  his  part,  he  declares,  "  As 
I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the 
death  of  the  wicked;  but,  that  the  wicked  turn  from 
his  evil  way  and  live."  As  though  he  would  con- 
descend to  men  in  paternal  familiarity,  he  says, 
"Come  now,  and  let  us  reason  together;  though 
your  sins  be  as  scarlet  they  shall  be  white  as  snow ; 
though  they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as 
wool."  As  though  he  could  not  leave  them  to  perish 
in  their  iniquity,  he  says,  "  How  shall  I  give  thee  up, 
Ephraim.'^  How  shall  I  deHver  thee,  Israel?  How 
shall  I  make  thee  as  Admah.^  How  shall  I  set  thee 
as  Zeboim.''"  And  as  though  he  were  impatient  for 
their  moral  restoration,  and  could  entreat  them  to 
spare  themselves,  to  spare  him  the  woful  day,  he 
beseeches  them,  "  Oh  Jerusalem !  wash  thine  heart 
from  thy  wickedness,  that  thou  may  est  be  saved. 
How  long  shall  thy  vain  thoughts  lodge  within  thee.'' 
Wilt  thou  not  be  made  clean  ?  When  shall  it  once 
be  .f*"  Thus  does  God  use  the  means  of  regeneration 
with  unregenerated  men. 

Nor  is  this  all  the  truth  on  this  subject.     If  means 


It) 

of  regeneration  have  been  appointed  by  God,  then 
are  all  who  enjoy  them  under  obligation  to  make 
such  a  use  of  them,  as  will  answer  the  end  of  their 
appointment.  If  it  were  a  matter  of  indifference 
whether  men  attend  to  the  means,  then  is  it  of  little 
moment  that  they  have  been  instituted.  It  were  as 
well  to  be  without  the  Bible,  if  men  do  not  read;  as 
well  to  be  without  the  ministry  of  reconciliation,  if 
they  do  not  hear ;  as  well  to  have  no  Sabbath  and  no 
Sanctuary,  if  it  is  harmless  to  disregard  them. 

But  while  we  say  this,  there  are  other  thoughts 
we  may  not  suppress.  It  is  important  to  inquire, 
How  do  unregenerated  men  use  the  means  of  rege- 
neration ? 

It  is  not  denied  that  they  use  them.  It  is  no  unusual 
thing  for  unregenerated  men  to  perform  all  the 
external  duties  which  God  has  required.  They 
read  the  Scriptures;  they  remember  the  Sabbath- 
day,  and  spend  it  in  the  observances  of  devotion ; 
they  hear  the  preached  word;  and  they  attend  on  all 
the  divine  institutions.  They  often  engage  in  these 
services  with  great  apparent  propriety,  and  not  un- 
frequently  with  the  diligence  and  decency  which 
indicate  a  serious  mind.  In  a  multitude  of  instances, 
they  are  not  satisfied  with  occasional  acts  of  external 
devotion,  but  spend  much  time  in  prayer  and  in 
crying  anxiously  and  mightily  to  God  for  mercy. 
All  thia  they  do;  and  considered  as  mere  external 
observances,  their  conduct  is  unexceptionable.  But 
may  there  not  be,  after  all,  a  radical  deficiency  in 
their  best  and  most  serious  performances  }  Though 


11 

it  may  not  be  denied  that  imregenerated  men  use  the 
means,  it  must  be  confessed  that  they  never  use  them 
as  they  ought  to  use  them. 

They  never  use  them  with  sincerity.  There  is 
no  correspondence  between  their  professions  and 
their  character.  There  is  no  correspondence  be- 
tween their  Hps  and  their  heart,  nor  between  their 
heart  and  their  conduct.  They  "draw  nigh  unto 
God  with  their  mouth  and  honour  him  with  their 
lips,  while  their  heart  is  far  from  him."  Notwith- 
standing their  professions  of  seriousness,  which  their 
use  of  the  means  always  implies,  it  is  possible  for 
them  to  be  stupid  and  unfeeling  as  a  stone;  and  in 
the  very  solemnities  in  which  they  are  occupied,  to 
suffer  their  hearts,  "like  the  fool's  eyes,"  to  be  "at 
the  ends  of  the  earth."  Notwithstanding  their  pro- 
fessions of  self-abasement,  self-distrust,  and  humility, 
which  their  use  of  the  means  always  involves,  it  is 
no  uncommon  thing  for  them  to  have  no  such  view 
of  their  sins  and  their  ill  desert,  as  they  profess  to 
have  when  they  draw  nigh  unto  God.  The  heart  of 
every  unregenerated  man  is  a  self-righteous  heart ; 
and  it  may  be,  that  unregenerated  men  never  feel 
more  of  a  spirit  of  self-righteousness,  than  when 
engaged  in  external  acts  of  devotion.  Notwith- 
standing all  their  most  solemn  expressions  of  reve- 
rence and  esteem  for  God,  which  their  use  of  means 
also  always  implies,  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  them 
to  carry  into  their  religious  services  a  sensible  hos- 
tility to  his  character,  his  laws,  and  his  grace.  Not- 
withstanding their  professed  desire  for  holiness,  the 


melancholy  tact  is,  they  are  enemies  of  holiness,  and 
every  feeling  of  their  heart  is  in  league  with  sin. 
Though  they  profess  to  be  seeking  and  striving  to 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  it  is  no  unusual 
thing  for  them  to  feel  that  they  are  at  heart  unfriendly 
to  the  spirit  and  society  of  the  heavenly  world,  and 
with  a  full  view  of  the  nature  of  its  holy  salvation, 
to  be  themselves  conscious  that  they  choose  death 
rather  than  life.  But  whether  they  are  conscious  of 
it  or  not,  we  know  the  fact  is  so.  Every  unregene- 
rated  man  dislikes  and  rejects  the  terms  of  salvation, 
and  is  not  willing  to  have  the  salvation  the  Gospel 
offers  upon  any  terms.  Now  all  this  is  most  insincere 
and  disengenuous;  and  there  is  great  want  of  truth 
and  fidelity  of  heart  in  such  a  use  of  the  means  of 
regeneration.  Do  you  say,  Is  it  so  that  there  is  no 
sincerity  in  anxious,  seeking  sinners  ?  Are  all  their 
tears  and  anxiety  dissembled  tears  and  anxiety  ? 
Doubtless  they  are  sincerely  anxious.  But  what 
does  their  anxiety  and  sincerity  amount  to,  more 
than  an  earnest  desire  to  be  delivered  from  hell,  and 
to  maintain  their  alienation  from  God  with  im- 
punity ?  And  in  this,  the  devils  may  be  as  anxious 
and  sincere  as  they. 

Another  remark,  therefore,  in  relation  to  the  use 
which  unregenerated  men  make  of  the  means,  it  is 
important  to  subjoin :  it  is  a  wrong  and  sinful  use. 
Nor  is  this  at  all  a  doubtful  point.  God  requires  men 
to  use  the  means  of  regeneration  only  as  expressions 
of  their  heart.  He  neither  requires  nor  forbids  any 
external  action  separated  from  the  heart.     He  re- 


13 

quires  a  good,  and  forbids  a  bad  heart;  and  he 
requires  and  forbids  nothing  but  what  is  an  expres- 
sion of  a  heart  which  is  either  good  or  evil.     But 
are  not  the  hearts  of  unregenerated  men  entirely 
sinful  ?  and  is  not  all  their  moral  conduct  therefore- 
entirely  sinful  ?    The  external  conduct  of  men,  even 
when  it  assumes  the  most  sacred  and  imposing  form, 
is  just  as  sinful  as  the  heart  from  which  it  flows. 
The  only  way  to  prove  any  action  to  be  sinful,  is  to 
show  that  it  is  done  from  a  wicked  heart.     And  since 
unregenerated  men  always  act  from  a  wicked  heart, 
their  heart  always  vitiates  their  use  of  the  means 
of  regeneration.     Nor  let  it  be  forgotten,  that  the 
light  which  um"egenerated  men  resist  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  means,  augments  aud  aggravates  their  sin- 
fulness.   The  Scriptures  represent  the  knowledge  of 
duty  as  the  highest   aggravation  of  human  guilt. 
"  This  is  the  condemnation,  that  light  is  come  into 
the  world,  and  men  have  loved  darkness  rather  than 
light."     "  He  that  knoweth  his  Master's  will  and 
doeth  it  not  shall  be  beaten  with  many  stripes." 
"  If  I  had  not  come  among  them,  they  had  not  had 
sin ;  but  now  they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sin."    That 
which  renders  one  course  of  conduct  more  sinful 
than  another,  is  not  so  much  the  external  action  that 
is  performed,  as  the  light  resisted  in  performing  it. 
Impenitent  men  know  their  duty,  the  more  they  are 
famihar  with  the  means  of  regeneration;  for  one  great 
design  of  means  is  to  inform  them.    They  not  only 
may  resist  as  great  light  in  using  the  means  as  at  any 
other  time,  but  they  usually  resist  greater.    They 


14 

never  do  perhaps  indulge  such  strong  and  direct 
opposition  to  God,  as  when  their  conscience  is  so  far 
enhghtened  by  the  means  of  regeneration,  as  to  leave 
them  eminently  without  excuse.  God  is  then  most 
fully  in  their  view ;  and  they  then  have  an  opportu- 
nity, which  perhaps  they  never  have  at  any  other 
time,  of  "  seeing  and  hating  both  Christ  and  his  Fa- 
ther." Hence  the  hearts  of  the  unregenerated  may 
be  awfully  sinful,  while  they  stand  before  God  sup- 
plicating his  mercy,  or  performing  any  other  ex- 
ternal act  of  devotion.  It  is  possible  for  them  to  be 
urged  to  the  use  of  means  by  the  worst  motives,  and 
in  the  indulgence  of  the  most  selfish  and  sinful  affec- 
tions. It  would  not  be  beyond  the  truth  to  say,  that 
many  an  unregenerated  man  has  been  externally 
engaged  in  the  means  of  regeneration,  while  he  has 
at  heart  felt  such  vigorous  opposition  to  God  and 
holiness,  that  he  would,  if  it  were  in  his  power,  de- 
throne the  Most  High.  But  however  this  may  be, 
we  know  that  a  heart  of  enmity  to  God  is  never 
urged  to  the  use  of  means  from  motives  that  are 
pure  and  holy,  and  therefore  that  all  the  use  which 
unregenerated  men  make  of  them  is  unholy  and  sin- 
ful. In  no  other  way  than  this  are  means  used  by 
unregenerated  men  themselves. 

It  is  important  therefore,  that  we  proceed  to  show 
how  such  a  use  of  means  is  connected  with  regene- 
ration. We  have  seen  that  such  a  use  of  them  is 
connected  with  regeneration,  because  without  means 
men  are  not  regenerated.  It  is  acknowledged  that 
such  a  use  of  them  is  insincere  and  unholy.     How 


15 

then  is  such  a  use  of  them  connected  with  regene- 
ration? Here,  it  is  important  to  observe  several 
things,  if  we  would  come  at  the  truth  as  revealed  in 
the  Scriptures. 

It  is  not  because  such  a  use  of  the  means  is  accept- 
able to  God.  If  such  a  use  of  the  means  is  insin- 
cere and  unholy,  God  cannot  approve  it.  God 
approves  nothing  but  holiness.  It  is  not  the  time 
when,  nor  the  place  where,  nor  the  form  with  which 
men  attend  on  means,  but  the  heart  with  which  they 
attend,  that  is  the  object  of  the  divine  regard.  Hence 
the  apostle  affirms,  "  Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to 
please  God."  Solomon  says,  "  He  that  turneth  away 
his  ear  from  hearing  the  law,  even  his  prayer  shall 
be  abomination."  And  again  he  says,  "  The  sacri- 
fice of  the  wicked  is  abomination  to  the  Lord,  but 
the  prayer  of  the  upright  is  his  delight."  God  in- 
quires of  ancient  Israel,  "  To  what  purpose  is  the 
multitude  of  your  sacrifices  unto  me.'*  When  ye 
come  to  appear  before  me,  who  hath  required  this 
at  your  hands  to  tread  my  courts  }  Bring  no  more 
vain  oblations;  incense  is  abomination  to  me,  the 
new  moons  and  Sabbaths,  the  calling  of  assemblies, 
I  cannot  away  with ;  it  is  iniquity,  even  the  solemn 
meeting."  Our  Lord  also  confirms  the  testimony 
of  Isaiah  concerning  that  people,  when  he  says, 
"This  people  draweth  nigh  unto  me  with  their 
mouth,  and  honoureth  me  with  their  lips,  but  their 
heart  is  far  from  me."  Who  paid  a  more  decent  and 
punctual  regard  to  the  means  than  the  Pharisees 
and  Scribes  .'*      And  yet  the  same  unerring  Judge 


16 

says  to  them,  "  Ye  serpents,  ye  generation  of  vipers, 
how  can  ye  escape  the  damnation  of  hell  ?  We  need 
not  therefore  hesitate  in  saying,  that  such  a  use  of 
the  means  is  not  connected  with  regeneration  be- 
cause it  is  acceptable  to  God. 

Nor  is  it  because  such  a  use  of  the  means  is  inter- 
ested in  any  of  the  divine  promises.  This  has  often 
been  supposed.  Great  and  good  men  have  believed 
and  taught  that  the  word  of  God  contains  unequivo- 
cal promises  of  grace  to  the  exertions  of  unrege- 
nerated  men.  Would  unregenerated  men  comply 
with  the  requisitions  of  the  Gospel,  there  are  not 
wanting  "  great  and  precious  promises,"  to  support 
and  comfort  them,  and  to  encourage  every  right 
exertion.  But  there  are  no  promises  to  an  insincere 
and  unholy  use  of  the  means.  There  are  passages 
of  Scripture  which  promise  grace  to  those  who 
"  seek,"  and  "  ask,"  and  "  knock,"  and  "  strive,"  and 
•'  wrestle,"  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God ;  but  if 
any  man  will  take  his  Concordance,  and  compare 
Scripture  with  Scripture,  he  will  be  convinced  that 
the  sacred  writers  never  use  these  terms  in  applica- 
tion to  the  exertions  of  unregenerated  men.  What 
efforts  of  the  unregenerated  assume,  in  this  respect, 
a  fairer  character  than  their  prayers  ?  And  yet  of 
these  it  is  affirmed,  "  Now  we  know  that  God  heareth 
not  sinners,  but  if  any  man  be  a  worshipper  of  God 
and  doeth  his  will,  him  he  heareth."  The  Scriptures 
are  also  most  explicit  in  informing  us,  that  "  all  the 
promises  are  yea  and  amen  in  Christ  Jesus."  Where, 
then,  is  the  promise  of  regenerating  grace  to  tho 


17 

man  who  has  no  interest  in  Christ  Jesus  ?  Who  can 
appropriate  a  promise  in  the  Bible,  that  does  not 
exercise  the  faith  of  the  Gospel  ?  Is  it  said,  this  is  a 
promise  altogether  of  a  peculiar  kind,  and  is  made 
to  encourage  unregenerated  men  in  the  diligent  use 
of  the  means.  But  if  it  is  a  promise  of  regenerating 
grace,  then  is  it  virtually  a  promise  of  eternal  life : 
so  that  the  amount  of  what  is  here  contended  for  is, 
that  there  is  a  particular  class  of  unbelievers,  who 
have  the  promise  of  eternal  life.  There  is  no  such 
promise.  Men  who  do  not  "  ask  in  faith  deceive 
themselves  if  they  think  they  shall  receive  any  thing 
from  the  Lord."  Until  they  become  new  creatures, 
all  men,  without  exception,  are  in  a  state  of  existing 
condemnation.  As  soon  as  they  repent  and  believe 
the  Gospel,  all  the  promises  of  the  new  covenant 
are  theirs.  But  until  then,  if  there  be  a  promise 
that  reaches  them,  it  must  be  one  that  is  perfectly 
consistent  with  their  present  condemnation;  since 
**he  that  believeth  not  is  condemned  already."  It 
must  be  one  that  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the 
execution  of  the  threatening,  at  any  moment,  "  Ex- 
cept ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."  If 
there  are  promises  of  grace  to  the  efforts  of  unre- 
generated men,  then  do  the  terms  of  salvation  fall 
short  of  holiness.  If  there  are  promises  of  grace  to 
to  their  prayers,  then  does  God  regard  the  prayers 
of  the  unregenerated  as  he  never  regards  the  prayers 
of  the  regenerated.  The  Psalmist  says, "  If  I  regard 
iniquity  in  my  heart,  the  Lord  will  not  hear  me." 
And  finally,  if  there  be  promises  of  grace  to  the 


18 

etibrts  of  unregenerated  men,  then  do  they  fail  of 
their  accomplishment;  for  we  see  every  day,  that 
there  are  those  who  engage  in  these  external  services, 
and  with  great  seriousness  and  anxiety,  who  lose  their 
convictions  and  never  become  pious.  The  truth  on 
this  interesting  point  is  clearly  stated  in  the  following 
remarks  of  President  Edwards,  "  As  long  as  men 
reject  Christ,  and  do  not  believe  in  him,  however 
they  may  be  awakened,  and  however  strict  and 
laborious  they  may  be  in  religion,  they  have  the 
wrath  of  God  abiding  on  them,  they  are  his  enemies 
and  children  of  the  devil ;  and  it  i^uncertain  whether 
they  shall  ever  obtain  mercy.  God  is  under  no 
obligation  to  show  them  mercy,  nor  will  he  be,  if 
they  fast  and  pray,  and  cry  never  so  much ;  and  they 
are  then  especially  provoking  God  under  those 
terrors,  that  they  stand  it  out  against  Christ,  and 
will  not  accept  of  an  offered  Saviour,  though  they 
see  so  much  need  of  him."* 

Nor  is  such  a  use  of  the  means  connected  with 
regeneration,  because  in  thus  using  them,  unrege- 
nerated men  make  any  approximation  to  holiness. 
Apparently,  means  make  them  better.  They  may 
remove  their  ignorance  and  stupidity;  they  may 
check  outward  corruptions  and  gross  immorality ; 
they  may  render  the  unregenerated  better  informed 
and  more  useful  members  of  society.  But  while  in 
these  respects,  they  make  them  apparently  better, 
there  is  in  their  character  no  approximation  to  holi- 

*  Thoughts  on  the  Revival  of  Religion  in  New-England.  Opera,  page 
196.    Edit.  Am. 


19 

ness.  Their  wickedness  consists  entirely  in  their 
hearts ;  and  though  their  external  conduct  may  be- 
come better,  their  hearts  may  be  all  the  while 
growing  worse.  And  this  is  the  tendency  of  the 
human  heart  under  means.  "  The  earth  which 
drinketh  in  the  rain  that  cometh  oft  upon  it,  and 
beareth  briers  and  thorns,  is  nigh  unto  cursing, 
whose  end  is  to  be  burned."  The  more  light  is 
poured  upon  their  understandings,  the  more  con- 
victions press  their  consciences,  the  more  their 
attention  is  arrested  by  the  requisitions  of  the  Gospel ; 
so  long  as  this  light  is  resisted,  these  convictions 
opposed,  and  these  requisitions  and  motives  disre- 
garded, so  long  are  they  themselves  increasing  in 
guilt,  and  plunging  deeper  in  condemnation.  And 
hence  we  see,  that  if  men  of  this  description  never 
become  converted,  they  always  become  hardened  in 
iniquity,  and  are  very  apt  to  be  giants  in  guilt. 
"  He  that  being  often  reproved,  hardeneth  his  neck, 
shall  suddenly  fall,  and  that  without  remedy." 

This  suggests  another  remark  on  this  part  of  our 
subject :  Such  a  use  of  means  does  not  always  ter- 
minate in  regeneration.  We  have  already  seen, 
that  when  men  are  regenerated,  such  a  use  of 
the  means  ordinarily  precedes  their  regeneration. 
Though  not  acceptable  to  God,  though  not  interested 
in  any  divine  promise,  and  though  there  is  in  all 
their  efforts  no  approximation  to  holiness;  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  such  a  use  of  the  means  pre- 
cedes regeneration.  But  this  is  not  always  the 
result.     "  Many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen.*' 


20 

"  There  are  lirst  which  shall  be  last,  and  there  are 
last  which  shall  be  first."  "  The  election  obtained 
it,  and  the  rest  were  blinded."  "  It  is  not  of  him 
that  willeth,  nor  of  him  that  runneth,  but  of  God 
that  showeth  mercy."  The  same  means  which  God 
uses  to  save  some,  serve  to  destroy  others.  The 
child  that  was  born  in  Bethlehem  was  "  set  for  the 
fall,"  as  well  as  "  the  rising  again  of  many."  Means 
have  a  widely  different  effect  upon  different  persons. 
Some  they  save,  and  others  they  destroy.  There  is 
sovereignty  attending  the  operations  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  which  is  inscrutable  to  men.  "  The  wind 
bloweth  where  it  listeth."  Regenerated  men  see 
and  admire  this,  and  exclaim,  "Not  unto  us.  Oh 
Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  to  thy  name  give  glory,  for 
thy  mercy  and  thy  truth's  sake."  And  unregene- 
rated  men  see  and  complain  of  this.  You  often 
hear  them  say.  Why  is  the  blessing  withheld  from 
me,  and  imparted  to  others  ?  Why  from  me,  who 
have  used  the  means  so  long,  and  imparted  to 
others  not  half  so  laborious  in  the  use  of  them  ? 
It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  find  those  who  have 
attended  on  the  means  a  long  time,  unrelieved  in 
their  anxiety  and  hardened  in  sin;  while  on  the 
other  hand,  those  may  be  found  who  have  paid 
far  less  attention  to  them ;  and  perhaps  here  and 
there  one  who  is  accidentally  thrown  into  the  house 
of  prayer  for  a  single  Sabbath,  who  is  broken 
down  and  subdued  by  omnipotent  grace.  These 
things  we  cannot  dispute,  because  we  see  they  are 
facts.    When  we  consider  the  manner  in  which  the 


21 

iinregenerated  always  use  the  means  of  regenera- 
tion, we  may  not  wonder  they  should  often  be  una- 
vailing ;  and  the  rather  do  we  wonder  that  they  are 
ever  attended  with  the  divine  blessing.  No  doubt 
there  are  those  who  use  the  means,  and  resist  the 
obligation  to  them  to  the  last,  who  will  at  the  last 
find,  that  their  persevering  abuse  of  them  is  not 
forgotten  by  the  God  of  righteousness,  and  that 
while  they  have  become  the  savour  of  life  unto  life 
in  them  that  are  saved,  have  also  become  the  savour 
of  death  unto  death,  in  them  that  perish. 

If  then  these  things  are  true,  we  come  to  the 
inquiry  with  still  deeper  interest.  How  are  the  means 
of  regeneration^  as  used  by  unregenerated  men^ 
connected  icith  their  regeneration?  What  is  the 
proper  end  and  design  of  them  ?  And  what  pur- 
poses do  they  accomplish  ? 

These  inquiries  are  the  more  appropriate,  because 
we  all  believe  they  do  not  change  the  heart.  I  say, 
they  do  not  change  the  heart.  There  are  those  we 
know,  who  defend  a  different  sentiment.  The  Pela- 
gians affirm,  that  the  transformation  of  character 
which  the  Scriptures  denominate  regeneration,  is 
effected  by  clear  and  repeated  exhibitions  of  divine 
truth,  not  as  the  means,  but  as  the  efficient  cause  of 
the  change ;  and  that  in  turning  from  sin  to  holiness, 
the  heart  yields,  not  to  an  immediate  influence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  but  to  the  exclusive  power  of  a  well- 
directed  moral  suasion,  without  any  superadded 
divine  influence.  The  Armenians  affirm  substan- 
tially the  same  sentiment,  except  that  they  hold  to 


22 

the  idea  of  the  divine  influence,  and  consider  it 
communicated  to  all  alike;  so  that  the  difference 
between  the  regenerated  and  the  unregenerated  is 
made,  not  by  special  grace,  but  by  common  grace, 
specially  improved.     But  are  these  the  revelations 
of  God,  or  the  theories  of  men  ?    To  say  nothing  of 
that  class  of  Scriptures  which  attribute  the  work  of 
regeneration  to  the  immediate  efficiency  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  peculiarity  of  the  following  passages  can- 
not have  escaped  our  notice.     When  Moses  remind- 
ed the  children  of  Israel  of  all  the  wonders  of  mercy 
and  judgment  in  which  God  had  passed  before  them, 
he   took  particular  pains  to  inform  them  that  all 
these  had  not  availed  to  their  regeneration.     "  Ye 
have  seen  all  that  the  Lord  did  before  your  eyes  in 
the  land  of  Egypt,  unto  Pharaoh,  and  unto  all  his 
servants,  and  unto  all  his  land ;  the  great  tempta- 
tions which  thine  eyes  have  seen,  the  signs,  and 
those  great  miracles ;  yet  the  Lord  hath  not  given 
you  an  heart  to  perceive^  and  eyes  to  see^  and 
ears  to  hear  unto  this  day^     As  though  he  would 
impress  the  thought  that  holiness  was  the  imme- 
diate effect  of  divine  power,  in   distinction   from 
all  other  ways  of  producing  it,  John  declares  of 
those  who  were  adopted  into  the  family  of  Christ, 
that  they  were  "  born  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will 
of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  hut  of  God."'' 
Paul  says  to  the  Ephesians,  that  they  were  rege- 
nerated, not  by  that  all  pervading  power  simply 
which  holds  the  universe  in  existence,  and  sustains 
the  uniform  revolutions  of  the  natural  world,  but 


"  by  the  exceeding  greatness  of  that  power  which 
God  wrought  in  Christ,  when  he  raised  him  from 
the  dead."  We  would  hesitate  in  affirming,  with 
some  most  excellent  men,  that  the  principal  reason 
why  the  immediate  operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
in  the  production  of  holiness  is  necessary,  is  found 
in  any  deficiency  of  intellectual  capacity  in  unre- 
generated  men;  or  any  deficiency  in  the  moral 
sense ;  or  that  this  divine  influence  is  necessary,  to 
make  them  moral  agents,  and  to  originate  their 
obligations  to  piety.  The  principal  reason  why  this 
influence  is  necessary  is,  that  unregenerated  men 
are  enemies  to  God  and  holiness,  and  their  hos- 
tility is  so  unyielding,  that  no  light  communicated 
to  their  understanding,  no  obligations  addressed  to 
their  conscience,  no  motives  presented  to  their 
hopes  or  their  fears,  can  produce  holy  love. 

In  unequivocally  recognising  this  important  prin- 
ciple, there  is,  therefore,  some  embarrassment  at- 
tending the  question.  What  end  do  the  means  of 
regeneration  answer  }  If  the  Spirit  of  God  is  the 
cause  of  holiness,  why  should  not  his  agency  be 
exerted  alone  ^  What  is  the  use  of  means,  if  it  is 
not  expected  they  will  exert  an  efficiency  in  produ- 
cing a  new  heart } 

In  this  place,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  premise, 
that  if  no  connexion  between  the  means  and  the 
end  could  be  discovered  by  us,  so  long  as  God  has 
established  the  connexion,  and  the  end  is  not  ac- 
complished without  the  means,  this  furnishes  no 
proof  of  their  inutility.     God  may  see  reasons  for 


24 

their  appointment,  which  we  do  not  see.  Eze- 
kiel  could  not  see  what  agency  his  voice  had  in 
animating  the  bones  in  the  valley  of  vision;  Naa- 
man  could  not  see  what  benefit  would  accrue  to 
him  from  washing  seven  times  in  the  waters  of 
Jordan;  Joshua  could  not  see  what  good  was  to 
be  accomplished  by  blowing  the  rams  horns  and 
encompassing  the  walls  of  Jericho;  the  multitude 
could  not  discover  the  use  of  applying  the  clay  to 
the  eyes  of  the  blind  man;  but  their  ignorance 
does  not  satisfy  us  that  these  means  were  of  no 
utility.  I  would  be  slow  to  affirm  that  we  know 
nothing  of  the  end  which  the  means  of  regeneration 
accomplish ;  though  if  it  were  so,  I  would  not  ques- 
tion the  wisdom  of  their  appointment.  But  we  do 
know,  and  can  easily  see  some  things  they  accom- 
plish, which  in  the  method  of  grace  that  God  has 
established,  are  desirable  and  important. 

They  enlighten  the  understanding.  Unregene- 
rated  men  are  in  awful  darkness.  The  empire  of 
the  great  adversary  is  the  empire  of  darkness,  and 
the  chains  in  which  his  subjects  are  bound  are 
chains  of  darkness.  The  stupidity  which  wicked 
men  indulge,  and  the  tranquillity  and  peace  they 
enjoy,  have  their  foundation  in  blindness  and  igno- 
rance. If  their  sins  and  their  hopes  are  ever  dis- 
turbed, light  must  be  let  in  upon  their  minds.  This 
gross  darkness  which  covers  the  people  must  be  dis- 
sipated. They  must  see  their  guilty  and  wretched 
condition,  and  the  only  escape  from  it,  or  they  can- 
not be  saved.     Without  some  degree  of  intellectual 


25 

light,  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  possess  the  holi- 
ness which  God  requires.  -^The  graces  of  the  Spirit 
are  all  exercised  in  view  of  some  particular  object 
distinctly  discerned  by  the  eye  of  the   mind.     The 
love,  repentance,  faith,  hope,  joy,  and  submission  of 
the  Gospel,  has  each  its  specific  object,  and  cannot 
be  exercised  until  the  object  itself  be  brought  before 
the  understanding.     It  is  not  for  us  to  limit  the 
operations  of  the  Spirit  in  the  immediate  commu- 
nications of  his  truth  to  the  soul.     I  know  not  how 
frequently  this  communication  is  made;  and  have 
no  doubt  that  it  is  made  especially  to  those  who  die 
in  childhood.     But  since  this  is  not  the  ordinary 
way  in  which  the   knowledge  of  the  truth  is  im- 
parted, it  may  be  justly  said  to  be  indispensable  to 
the  salvation  of  men,  that  they  be  furnished  with, 
and  use  the  outward  and  ordinary  means.     In  this 
way  only  they  become  acquainted  with  the  being, 
character  and  government  of  God;  with  the  nature, 
extent,  and  criminality  of  their  own  moral  corrup- 
tion ;  with  the  only  method  of  salvation ;  and  with 
all  the  obligations  and  motives  to  holiness.     And  it 
is  of  importance  to  bear  in  mind,  that  all  the  in- 
struction which  means  convey,  can  be  easily  under- 
stood.    They  are  not  addressed  to  stocks,  or  idiots, 
but  to   men^  and  though   they  are  unregenerated 
men,  yet  are  they  reasonable  men,  who  retain  all 
their  intellectual  faculties,  and  are  capable  of  under- 
standing and  appreciating  every  truth  in  the  Bible. 
This,  therefore,  is  one  of  the  ends  accomplished  by 
the  means  of  regeneration.    The  minds  of  men  are 


26 

awakened  from  tlieir  stupidity,  and  roused  to  ttie 
consideration  of  those  grand  objects,  in  view  of 
which  the  soul  is  regenerated. 

There  is  another  important  purpose  answered 
by  the  means  of  regeneration :  They  impress  the 
conscience.  The  more  hght  is  thrown  into  the  sin- 
ner's understanding,  the  more  apt  his  conscience 
is  to  be  awake  to  his  obHgations.  The  proper  office 
of  conscience  is  to  teach  him  the  difference  between 
right  and  wrong,  to  give  him  impressions  of  his 
obHgations  to  hoHness,  to  condemn  the  sinfulness 
of  all  his  conduct,  and  to  make  him  feel  that  he 
deserves  to  be  punished  for  all  his  iniquity.  When 
once  the  understanding  is  duly  enlightened,  con- 
science is  invested  with  awful  authority.  It  belongs 
to  conscience  to  judge  ajid  dictate.  When  the  con- 
cerns of  religion  are  presented  before  the  mind, 
conscience  claims  the  right  of  deciding  and  con- 
trolling in  this  important  business.  She  makes  the 
sinner  acknowledge  that  what  God  has  required 
is  no  more  than  his  known  duty.  She  constrains 
him  to  feel  that  there  is  nothing  unreasonable  in  any 
internal  affection,  or  external  conduct  which  the 
Gospel  enjoins,  and  challenges  him  to  find  any  ground 
of  exception  to  the  divine  requisitions.  She  strips 
fiim  of  every  excuse,  silences  his  every  objection, 
(loses  his  lips,  turns  his  strength  into  weakness  and 
his  hopes  into  despair,  and  prostrates  him  a  guilty, 
convinced,  and  condemned  sinner  at  the  feet  of 
sovereign  mercy.  And  because  he  will  not  forsake 
his  sins  and  submit  himself  to  Jesus  Christ,  she 


pours  upon  him  the  sentence  of  her  severest  con- 
demnation, sets  his  iniquities  in  order  before  him. 
fills  him  with  reproach  and  bitterness,  destroys  his 
peace,  and  makes  him  feel  that  he  deserves  the 
wrath  and  curse  of  an  angry  God.  Not  unfre- 
quently  the  arrow  sinks  deep.  The  soul  is  racked 
with  inward  disquietude  and  painful  convictions. 
Terrifying  apprehensions,  unappeased  anxiety,  and 
keen  distress  throw  him  alternately  upon  his  own 
resources  and  the  resources  of  those  around  him, 
till  every  refuge  fails,  till  he  feels  himself  sinking 
into  the  pit,  and  in  the  bitterness  of  his  soul,  cries- 
out,  "What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved?"  But  these 
impressions  on  the  conscience,  these  convictions, 
with  no  more  than  the  ordinary  strivings  of  the 
Spirit,  are  made  by  the  means  of  regeneration. 
The  word  of  God  has  become  quick  and  powerful. 
The  sword  of  the  Spirit  is  entering  the  soul. 

Another  object  accomplished  by  the  means  of 
regeneration  is  that  they  illustrate  the  obduracy  of 
tJie  human  heart.  The  native  tendency  of  truth  is 
to  enter  the  heart;  and  were  there  no  resistance, 
it  would  enter  it,  and  prove  the  occasion  of  all  holi- 
ness. But  the  heart  reluctates  and  resists.  What 
ought  to  call  forth  its  love,  excites  its  enmity  ;  what 
ought  to  provoke  its  penitence,  gives  resolution  to 
its  impenitence.  What  ought  to  allure  its  confi- 
dence, gives  rise  to  its  suspicion  and  jealousy. 
Now  it  is  obvious,  the  strength  of  this  opposition  is 
fully  evinced  only  by  the  measures  adopted  to  sub- 
due it.     These  are  the  means  of  regeneration.     If 


28 

it  should  appear  by  actual  experiment,  that  no 
extent  and  clearness  of  instruction,  no  force  of  the 
divine  authority,  no  frowns  and  no  smiles  of  an  all- 
pervading  providence,  no  accumulated  penalties  of 
the  divine  law,  no  liberal  invitations  of  mercy,  no 
cheering  assurances  of  pardon,  no  fears  of  hell  and 
no  hopes  of  heaven,  can  avail  to  incline  the  heart  of 
enmity  to  love,  or  charm  or  terrify  the  unregene- 
rated  mind  into  a  feeling  of  attachment  to  God  and 
holiness;  then  would  these  varied  expedients  only 
illustrate  the  impenetrable  hardness  of  the  human 
heart.  But  all  this  does  appear,  and  has  been  mani- 
fested wherever  the  experiment  has  been  tried. 
Hence,  when  all  the  force  of  truth  and  power  of 
moral  suasion  have  been  exhausted,  without  giving 
rise  to  one  holy  emotion,  we  have  in  the  means  used 
to  subdue  the  depravity  of  man,  most  affecting 
evidence  of  its  unbending  obduracy.  Nowhere  does 
the  heart  appear  so  desperately  wicked,  as  in  its 
resistance  of  all  the  light  and  motives  of  the  Gospel, 
and  its  inglorious  superiority  over  all  the  means  of 
grace  and  salvation.  Nor  are  there  wanting  reasons 
why  it  is  desirable  this  illustration  of  human  obdu- 
racy should  be  made.  To  the  sinner  himself,  it 
evinces  that  he  is  stout-hearted,  and  far  from  right- 
eousness. To  the  sinner  himself,  it  evinces  how  low  he 
has  fallen  by  his  iniquity,  and  how  abased  it  becomes 
him  to  lie.  On  the  mind  of  every  renewed  man,  it 
leaves  a  deep  aud  lasting  impression  of  the  sove- 
reignty and  fulness  of  that  grace  which  rescued  him 
as  a  brand  from  the  burning,  and  prepares  him  to 


29 

feel  his  everlasting  unworthiness,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  appreciate  his  everlasting  obligations  to  the 
grace  of  his  Redeemer.  And  even  where  the  only 
result  is,  that  such  an  illustration  demonstrates  the 
righteousness  of  the  condemning  sentence,  it  is 
greatly  desirable  that  it  should  appear,  that  unrege- 
nerated  men  are  lost, — not  through  any  lack  of  for- 
bearance on  the  part  of  God,  not  through  any  defi- 
ciency of  instruction  or  allurement,  not  through  any 
severity  of  justice  that  has  proscribed  the  offers  of 
forgiveness, — but  through  their  voluntary  abuse  of 
the  means  of  regeneration,  and  their  persevering 
rejection  of  offered  mercy.  If  they  had  gone  down 
to  hell  without  the  means  of  grace  and  salvation, 
the  universe  mi^ht  have  pitied  them  because  the 
universe  would  not  have  known  but  they  might  have 
been  reclaimed.  But  when  it  is  known  that  a  way  of 
salvation  was  revealed,  that  the  means  of  salvation 
were  brought  to  their  door,  and  that  they  perish 
only  through  their  own  fault  and  their  abuse  of 
means,  every  mouth  will  be  stopped,  and  all  will 
feel  that  it  is  reasonable,  men  should  forfeit  what 
they  thus  reject.  It  will  be  in  no  small  degree  to 
the  honour  of  divine  justice  when  the  final  sentence 
is  executed  upon  the  wicked,  that  no  offers  of  pardon, 
no  means  could  reclaim  them.     I  may  add, 

Another  end  accomplished  by  the  adoption  of 
means  is  the  exhibition  of  their  own  power lessness^ 
and  omnipotence  of  tJie  Holy  Spirit.  While  means 
are  the  ordinary  antecedents  to  regeneration,  rege- 
neration is  by  no  means  the  uniform  consequent 


30 

♦_)t'  means.     We  know  the  understanding  may  be 
enlightened,  the  conscience  impressed,  the  obduracy 
of  the  heart  illustrated,  and  the  sinner  never  become 
a  converted  man.     He  may  be  pricked  in  the  heart, 
and  inquire  with  awful  anxiety  what  he  must  do  to 
be  saved ;  and  after  all  be  an  impenitent  man,  and 
the  only  proper  answer  to  him,  is  to  direct  him  to 
do  that   he   has  never  done, — repent.    And   it  is 
important  to  remember  this.     It  is  not  true,  as  is 
frequently  represented,  that  where  the  mere  work 
of  the  law  upon  the  conscience,  however  distressing, 
is  begun,  God  will  carry  it  on  till  it  end  in  conversion. 
Matters  of  fact  have  often  proved  the  last  state  of 
such  men  to  be  worse  than  the  first.     The  com- 
mencement of  holiness  in  the  soul  is  that  "  good 
work,"  which  if  begun,  we  have  confidence  "  will 
be  carried  on  to  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ."     Still  no 
man  becomes  a  converted  man  without  this  ante- 
cedent influence.     God  first  places  men  under  the 
sound  of  the  Gospel,  leads  them  to  attend  to  the 
means  of  instruction,  convinces  them  of  sin,  and 
then,  if  he  means  to  save  them,  exerts  his  power  to 
change  their  hearts.     Now,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  by 
the  interposition  of  these  means,  a  forcible  exhibi- 
tion is  made  of  their  own  powerlessness  and  the 
omnipotence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.     Without  the  adop- 
tion of  means,  it  would  never  appear  in  fact^  that 
means  are  incompetent  to  the  work,  or  that  the 
immediate  power  of  God  is  at  all  necessary.     Unless 
the  experiment  had  been  tried,  there  would  have 
been  no  evidence,  apart  from  the  divine  testimony. 


tliat  the  regeneration  of  men  is  an  enterprise  not  to 
be  accomplished  without  the  arm  of  Omnipotence. 
But  when  the  most  hopeful  expedients  have  actually 
been  tried,  and  tried  in  vain,  there  is  a  practical 
demonstration,  I  do  not  say  of  their  fruitlessness., 
but  of  their  inefficacy.  When  the  strongest  obliga- 
tions and  most  winning  persuasives  to  holiness  have 
exhausted  all  their  energy  without  producing  on© 
holy  emotion ;  when  the  Supreme  God  has  exhausted 
all  the  force  of  his  commands,  and  men  have  tram- 
pled on  his  authority ;  when  he  has  exhausted  all  the 
weight  of  his  denunciations,  and  they  have  despised 
his  justice;  when  he  has  exhausted  all  the  overtures 
of  his  mercy,  and  they  have  contemned  his  favour : 
when  he  has  well  nigh  exhausted  his  patience  and 
long^uffering  in  opening  their  eyes  to  see  their 
danger,  and  awakening  their  consciences  to  feel 
their  guilt,  and  all  this  diversified  discipline  only 
proves  that  the  obduracy  of  men  holds  on  its  way 
with  all  the  means  to  subdue  it,  and  the  obstacles  to 
their  conversion  rise  higher  by  every  effort  to  sur- 
mount them ;  then,  and  not  till  then,  are  the  decla- 
rations of  the  Bible  confirmed  by  sound  experience, 
and  it  is  known  and  confessed  that  the  power  of  God 
himself  must  be  "brought  to  bear  upon  a  mass  of 
resistance,"  the  strength  of  which  was  little  thought 
of,  until  every  other  method  proved  abortive.  It  is 
at  the  hour  when  every  other  refuge  fails;  when 
every  thing  is  hung  round  with  darkness  and  despond- 
ency ;  when  the  sinner  himself  feels  that  he  is 
sinking  into  perdition ;  and  when  men  and  angels 


32 

might  inquire,  what  resistless  power  can  break  tliis 
heart  of  adamant  ?  what  mighty  grasp  can  Hft  this 
rebel  from  the  deep  abyss  ?  that  the  interposition  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  visible  almost  to  the  eye  of  sense, 
and  glorious  beyond  thought.  Nor  is  this  a  conside- 
ration of  trivial  moment.  When  I  consider  that 
God  made  all  things  for  himself;  when  I  learn  from 
the  Scriptures  that  the  manifestation  of  his  own  in- 
trinsic excellence  is  the  ultimate  end  of  all  that  he 
does ;  when  I  hear  him  saying  with  peculiar  empha- 
sis, and  again  and  again  repeated,  that  the  dispensa- 
tions of  his  providence  and  grace  are  so  directed 
that  "  men  may  know  that  he  is  Lord ;"  when  I  see 
for  myself  how  much  he  has  done  to  bring  out  his 
glorious  nature  from  the  retirements  of  eternity,  to 
the  view  and  admiration  of  principalities  and  powers 
in  heavenly  places  and  men  on  the  earth ;  when  I 
witness  the  wonderful  exhibitions  of  his  power  and 
glory  in  the  effusions  of  his  Spirit,  and  recollect  that 
these  brightest  exhibitions  of  mercy  would  be  dim 
and  indistinct  but  for  the  developements  they  make 
of  Deity ;  and  when  I  think  of  the  untold  importance 
to  himself  and  the  universe,  of  the  most  distinct  an- 
nunciation of  his  awful  name,  the  most  impressive 
exhibition  of  his  stupendous,  his  amazing  glory ;  I 
am  compelled  to  feel  that  the  means  of  regeneration 
are  not  without  utility,  and  answer  a  most  desirable 
and  important  end,  if  they  are  only  significant  in- 
dices of  the  exceeding  greatness  of  God's  power  in 
accomplishing  a  work,  to  which  all  other  efforts 
have  proved  inadequate. 


:j3 

It  is  thus  that  the  means  of  regeneration,  as  used 
by  God  with  unregenerated  men,  and  as  used  by 
unregenerated  men  themselves,  are  connected  with 
regeneration.  They  enhghten  the  understanding  ; 
they  impress  the  conscience ;  they  illustrate  the  ob- 
duracy of  the  heart ;  they  evince  their  own  power- 
lessness  and  the  omnipotence  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  and 
thus  bring  God  to  the  view  of  men,  and  prepare  the 
way  for  his  grace  to  be  illustriously  triumphant. 
They  accomphsh  that,  without  which  men  are  not 
regenerated,  and  without  which,  neither  men  nor 
angels  can  appreciate  the  regeneration.  The  truth 
on  this  interesting  subject  therefore,  lies  within  a 
narrow  compass.  Man  is  fallen  by  his  iniquity.  So 
criminally  averse  is  he  to  God  and  holiness,  that 
nothing  will  transform  his  character,  except  the 
powerful  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  God  is  under 
no  obligation  to  men  to  exert  his  transforming 
agency ;  and  when  he  does  it,  he  communicates  an 
unpromised  favour,  and  in  a  way  wisely  adapted  to 
the  intellectual  and  moral  nature  of  his  creatures, 
as  well  as  wisely  adapted  to  show  forth  his  own 
glory, — and  that  is  through  the  instrumentality  of 
truth.  This  is  the  amount  of  what  I  can  learn  from 
the  word  and  providence  of  God  in  relation  to  the 
means  of  regeneration.  It  is  easy  to  see,  what 
means  do  accomplish,  and  what  they  do  not  accom- 
plish. If  after  the  means  God  uses  with  men,  and 
men  use  with  themselves,  they  are  not  holy,  it  is 
because  means  cannot  reach  them;  and  the  strong- 
est effort  and  deepest  impression  leaves  them  in  the 


34 

hands  of  Him,  who  killeth  and  who  maketh  aUve, 
who  hath  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy,  and 
whom  he  will  he  hardeneth,  from  whose  hands  none 
can  deliver,  and  who  hath  a  right  to  do  what  he  will 
with  his  own. 

There  are  then  means  of  regeneration  appointed 
by  God,  and  we  have  great  encouragement  to  use 
them  with  our  fellow  men.  The  means  are  God's, 
as  well  as  the  success  of  them.  When  we  remem- 
ber that  God  does  not  operate  the  less  really,  because 
he  operates  instrumentally,  we  may  bring  home  the 
obligation  to  extend  the  means  of  his  appointment, 
with  something  more  than  the  hope,  that  by  so  doing, 
we  extend  the  sphere  of  divine  influence.  We  have 
strong  and  perhaps  conclusive  reason  to  believe,  that 
where  God  sends  the  means,  there  he  will  to  some  ex- 
tent at  least  send  the  agent,  and  that  his  own  Spirit 
will  accompany  his  institutions,  and  make  them  the 
wisdom  of  God  and  the  power  of  God  to  salvation.  To 
every  sincere  lover  of  God  and  man,  therefore,  the  pre- 
ceding illustration  addresses  the  language  of  encou- 
ragement. To  every  parent,  to  every  teacher,  to 
every  minister  of  the  Gospel,  to  every  student  in  the- 
ology, it  speaks  in  tones  of  awful  authority,  when  it 
declares  that  men  cannot  be  saved  without  the  means 
of  grace  and  salvation.  Is  it  the  appointed  method 
of  God's  providence  to  influence  men  to  action 
through  the  agency  and  zeal  of  their  fellow  men  ? 
So  is  it  the  method  of  his  grace.  And  I  see  not 
why  we  have  not  just  as  much  encouragement  to  use 
the  means  of  regeneration  with  our  fellow  men,  as 


35 

we  have  to  actuate  them  in  the  common  concerns 
of  human  Hfe.  It  is  the  purpose  of  God,  by  the 
foohshness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  beheve. 
And  is  it  not  enough  to  animate  us  in  our  work, 
that  such  is  the  method  of  God's  appointment  ? 
What  higher  encouragement  exists,  than  that  we 
may  be  fellow-workers  with  God  ?  Well  may  every 
minister  of  the  Gospel  say,  "  I  thank  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord,  w^ho  hath  enabled  me,  for  that  he  counted 
me  faithful,  putting  me  into  the  ministry."  And  I 
would  that  we  might  be  urged  forward  to  our  work 
by  the  ardent  desire  of  a  pious  heart,  that  can  be 
gratified  with  nothing  short  of  the  happiest  instru- 
mentality in  the  salvation  of  men ! 

But  there  is  another  truth  we  may  never  lose 
sight  of  If  there  are  means  of  regeneration  ap- 
pointed by  God,  then  it  is  important  to  make  use 
of  those  which  God  has  appointed,  and  no  other. 
Error  has  no  part  with  the  means  of  regeneration. 
We  may  not  expect  to  derive  any  advantage  from 
the  use  of  means  which  God  has  not  appointed.  If 
means  have  a  passive  suitableness;  if  they  are 
adapted  in  their  nature,  to  enlighten  the  under- 
standing and  impress  the  conscience;  then  they 
must  be  the  very  means  which  God  has  appointed. 
Our  solicitude,  therefore,  as  ministers  of  the  Gospel, 
should  be,  that  we  do  not  mistake  error  for  truth. 
There  is  awful  responsibility  in  this  matter ;  and  I 
have  only  to  say,  that  he  is  the  happy  minister  who 
has  a  conscience  void  of  offence  toward  God  and 
toward  man.    "  The  prophet  that  hath  a  dream,  let 


3^ 

him  tell  a  dream;  but  he  that  hath  my  word,  let 
him  preach  my  word  faithfully.  What  is  the  chaft' 
to  the  wheat,  saith  the  Lord  ?"  Be  it  our  concern, 
that  the  means  of  God's  appointment  do  not  lose 
their  urgency  in  the  hands  of  weak,  frail,  and  sinful 
man.  If  instead  of  the  truths  of  the  Gospel,  we 
modify  or  adulterate  those  truths ;  if  instead  of  the 
holiness  of  the  Gospel,  we  urge  the  maxims  of  a 
heartless  morality  or  selfish  philosophy ;  if  instead 
of  the  solemn  and  authoritative  obligations  of  the 
Gospel,  we  substitute  considerations  of  inferior  im- 
portance ;  these  are  not  the  means  of  God's  appoint- 
ment, and  therefore  we  may  not  expect  the  divine 
blessing  to  attend  them,  li  this  mighty  instru- 
mentality is  committed  to  men,  shall  they  not  feel 
the  constraints  of  obligation  that  are  unutterably 
tender  and  inviolably  strong,  to  be  faithful  in  their 
work  ?  And  in  their  nearest  views  of  eternity,  what 
peculiar  comfort  and  satisfaction  will  they  have, 
that  they  have  not  handled  the  word  of  God  deceit- 
fully, but  by  manifestation  of  the  truth,  commended 
themselves  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight 
of  God.  Then  if  they  have  planted  the  seed  of  the 
kingdom  and  watered  it,  they  can  leave  the  increase 
with  him  who  does  not  call  his  ministers  to  plant  and 
water  in  vain.  "  For  as  the  rain  cometh  down  and 
the  snow  from  heaven,  and  returneth  not  thither,  but 
watereth  the  earth,  and  maketh  it  bring  forth  and 
bud,  that  it  may  give  seed  to  the  sower  and  bread  to 
the  eater ;  so  shall  his  word  be  that  goeth  forth  out 
of  his  mouth :  it  shall  not  return  to  him  void,  but  it 


37 

shall  accomplish  that  which  he  please,  and  shall 
prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  he  sent  it.*' 

A  perplexing  inquiry  has  often  been  made  in  rela- 
tion to  means  which  the  view  which  has  been  given 
of  this  subject,  may  lead  us  to  answer : — it  is  this, 
Whether  it  is  best  for  unregenerated  men  to  use  the 
means,  or  neglect  them  ?  This  question  is  often  put 
by  persons  in  a  serious  frame  of  mind.  Before  we 
venture  to  answer  it,  we  may  remark,  that  the  ques- 
tion is  often  prompted  by  a  variety  of  views  and 
feelings. .  If  by  the  question  be  meant,  Whether 
men  perform  any  part  of  their  duty  by  using  the 
means  in  the  insincere  and  unholy  manner  in  which 
all  unregenerated  men  use  them  ? — we  answer.  No 
unregenerated  man  performs  any  part  of  his  duty. 
In  the  sight  of  God,  that  high  and  important  word 
implies  something  which  an  unregenerated  man 
never  does.  Hence  one  of  the  highest  human 
authorities  declares,  "  that  works  done  by  the  unre- 
generate,  although  for  the  matter  of  them,  they 
may  be  things  which  God  commands,  and  of  good 
use  both  to  themselves  and  others;  yet  because 
they  proceed  not  from  an  heart  purified  by  faith, 
nor  are  done  in  a  right  manner,  according  to  the 
word,  nor  to  a  right  end,  the  glory  of  God;  they 
are  therefore  sinful."*  If  by  the  question  be  meant, 
Whether  unregenerated  men  commit  more  sin  in 
using  the  means  than  neglecting  them  ? — it  is  a 
question  which  no  human  being  can  answer.  There 
is  sin  in  so  using  them ;  and  there  is  sin  in  neglect- 

*  Vide  Confession  -of  Faith  of  the  Presb.  Church.     Ch.  XVI.  Sec.  VIL 


ing  them ;  and  to  know  which  is  the  more  sinful  we 
must  know  the  heart.  That  is  a  most  erroneous 
view  which  affirms  there  is  sin  in  using  them,  and 
none  in  neglecting  them.  And  that  is  an  unwar- 
rantable view  which  decides,  that  there  is  less  sin 
in  neglecting  them,  than  using  them.  And  that 
also  is  an  unwarranted  view  which  decides  there  is 
less  sin  in  using  them,  than  in  neglecting  them.  It 
may  be  so,  and  it  may  not  be  so.  This  depends 
upon  the  motive  with  which  they  are  used,  or 
neglected.  It  is  easy  to  conceive  there  may  be  less 
sin  in  using  them,  than  neglecting  them.  The 
mind  may  not  be  so  far  from  God ;  the  heart  may 
not  be  so  vigorous  in  its  hostility,  while  engaged  in 
religious  observances,  as  when  away  from  them. 
And  perhaps,  the  opposite  of  all  this  may  be  true. 
This  is  a  point  which  cannot  be  decided  without 
knowing  the  hearty  which  God  only  knows,  who 
weighs  the  motives  which  induce  men  to  use  means, 
or  neglect  them,  and  who  alone  is  competent  to 
determine,  whether  they  commit  niore  sin  in  using 
or  neglecting. 

But  if  by  the  question  be  meant.  Whether  those  who 
use  the  means  are  more  likely  to  he  saved,  than  those 
who  neglect  them  ?  of  this  there  is  no  doubt.  We  see 
every  day,  that  the  probability  of  becoming  pious  is 
in  favour  of  those  only,  who  pay  an  exemplary  exter- 
nal regard  to  means.  The  probability  in  favour 
of  conversion  hes  on  one  side  of  the  question  only. 
Men  cannot  be  saved,  who  neglect  them.  There  is 
nothing  but  death  and  despair  for  those  who  neglect 


39 

them.  Common  sense  combines  with  the  principles 
of  the  preceding  discourse  in  deciding  this  question. 
When  we  see  our  children  anxious  to  read  the 
Bible,  and  to  frequent  their  closets,  and  to  attend 
the  public  ordinances  of  religion,  our  hearts  are 
filled  with  hope.  But  when  we  are  the  distressed 
spectators  of  the  reverse  of  all  this,  how  do  our 
bosoms  throb  with  anxiety  ?  And  yet  we  can  easily 
conceive  of  a  wrong  use  being  made  of  this  truth. 
If  we  were  expostulating  with  a  thoughtless  and 
vicious  man,  we  should  make  a  very  different  use  of 
this  truth  from  that  we  should  make  of  it,  were  we 
protesting  against  the  formality  and  procrastination 
of  anxious  and  delaying  sinners.  And  in  all  cases, 
we  should  feel  ourselves  bound  to  raise  our  warning 
voice  against  resting  in  the  use  of  means.  There 
is  an  invincible  proneness  in  men,  when  they  cannot 
satisfy  their  consciences  in  the  neglect  of  religion, 
to  have  recourse  to  something  short  of  it.  And  this 
refuge  is  the  means  of  grace.  But  such  a  use  of 
means  is  death  to  the  soul.  This  is  the  course 
which  multitudes  have  trodden  who  have  made 
their  bed  in  hell.  If  men  who  are  now  stransrers 
to  God,  ever  become  pious,  the  time  will  come  when 
they  will  be  thoroughly  dissatisfied  with  all  their 
use  of  means.  The  most  moral  among  them  will 
see  this,  as  well  as  the  most  immoral.     It  is  owino- 

o 

to  nothing  but  the  want  of  clear  and  strong  convic- 
tions that  leads  sinners  to  feel  pleased  and  com- 
forted in  their  religious  observances.  Persons  in 
the  last  stages  of  conviction  are  more  than  ever. 


40 

and  more  tlian  all  others,  convinced  of  the  entire 
sinfulness  of  all  their  religious  performances. 

There  is  another  subject  on  which  the  preceding 
illustration  may  perhaps  throw  some  light.  I  mean 
the  directions  it  is  proper  for  ministers  to  give  to 
persons  who  inquire,  What  they  must  do  to  be  saved. 
I  need  not  say,  there  exists  both  in  theory  and  prac- 
tice, two  different  and  opposite  views  on  this  inter- 
esting point.  There  are  those  whose  views  of 
human  depravity  are  such,  that  they  feel  great 
embarrassment  in  addressing  the  requisitions  of  the 
Gospel  to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  unrenewed 
men,  and  therefore  fail  in  enforcing  those  requisitions, 
and  leave  them  satisfied  with  their  use  of  means. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  are  those,  whose  views  of 
human  depravity,  though  equally  humiliating,  are 
such  as  to  present  no  embarrassment  in  urging  these 
requisitions  upon  the  sinner,  as  the  coinmandment  of 
the  everlasting  God,  and  as  the  most  powerful  means 
of  conviction  and  conversion.  These  two  different 
modes  of  thinking  and  acting  are  never  brought  to  the 
test  so  thoroughly,  as  when  ministers  are  laid  under 
the  necessity  of  answering  the  inquiry  of  distressed 
and  convinced  sinners,  who  with  all  the  weight  of 
their  sins  upon  them,  and  all  the  horrors  of  eternity 
before  them,  ask,  Sirs^  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ? 

The  question  is.  Shall  they  be  told  to  do  any  thing 
which  implies  the  neglect  or  postponement  of  im- 
mediate reconciliation  to  God, — or  shall  they  be  cut 
off  from  every  refuge,  and  urged  without  delay,  to 
repent  and  believe  the  Gospel  ? 


41 

To  tiiis  we  reply,  The  only  proper  direction  to 
he  given  them  is^  repent  and  believe  the  Gospel. 

Nothing  should  relax  the  force  of  this  pressing  obli- 
gation. No  matter  what  they  perform  beside,  until 
this  is  done  not  a  step  is  taken  in  the  business  of  their 
salvation.  Until  this  is  done,  they  are  only  contend- 
ing with  God,  justifying  all  their  former  sins,  and 
grieving  his  Holy  Spirit.  Until  this  is  done,  they 
are  only  resisting  the  most  powerful  motives  to  holy 
obedience,  trampling  on  the  divine  authority,  abus- 
ing the  divine  goodness,  and  rejecting  the  great  sal- 
vation. No  direction  ought  therefore,  to  be  given 
them,  that  will  afford  their  consciences  the  least 
relief  in  the  neglect  of  this  reasonable  duty.  And 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  it  is  at  the  peril  of  ministers 
to  pursue  any  other  course  with  them,  than  one 
which  shall  shut  them  up  to  the  faith. 

Do  you  say,  sinners  will  not  be  satisfied  with 
these  directions,  and  these  directions  will  only  dis- 
courage and  distress  them  ?  Be  it  so.  We  do  not 
wish  to  satisfy  them,  but  to  render  their  condition 
more  and  more  distressing,  as  long  as  they  stay 
away  from  Christ.  On  the  other  hand,  we  wish  to 
add  to  the  weight  of  their  obUgations,  till  they  be- 
come so  awful  and  accumulated  as  to  be  insupport- 
able, and  crush  their  rebellion.  And  this  course 
commends  itself  to  the  consciences  of  convinced 
sinners.  It  makes  them  feel  just  as  the  Spirit  of  God 
makes  them  feel.  This  is  the  work  in  which  the 
Spirit  of  God  is  engaged  with  them,  and  we  wish 
to  fall  in  with  it ;  and  we  know  that  any  other  course 


42 

IS  to  oppose  the  Spirit  in  his  work.  You  feel  it 
your  duty  to  keep  them  from  despair,  and  therefore 
you  direct  them  to  the  use  of  means,  and  comfort 
them  with  the  hope,  that  if  they  wait  God's  time,  all 
will  be  well !  And  what  do  you,  in  effect^  accomplish 
by  this  ?  You  do  not  mean  to  tell  them,  they  need 
not  repent,  they  need  not  now  believe  the  Gospel ; 
but  is  not  this  the  impression  of  your  directions  ? 
It  is  just  as  though  you  said  to  them.  You  need  not 
repent;  God  does  not  require  it.  You  need  not 
believe  the  Gospel ;  God  does  not  require  it.  You 
cannot  believe ;  you  cannot  repent ;  and  your  busi- 
ness is  to  do  as  well  as  you  can,  without  faith  and 
and  repentance.  I  say  again,  you  do  not  mean  to 
say  this,  but  the  effect  upon  the  mind  of  the  sinner 
is  the  same  as  though  you  had  said  it.  You  make 
him  feel  as  though  he  was  doing  very  well,  without 
complying  with  the  terms  of  salvation.  And  if  the 
sinner  does  not  find  out  his  error  by  being  told  that 
he  is  not  in  the  right  way,  he  must  find  it  out  by 
bitter  experience  in  direct  opposition  to  such  preach- 
ing. Why  should  ministers  hesitate  to  discourage 
sinners  in  their  procrastinated  impenitence  ?  Were 
they  ever  injured  by  such  discouragements  ?  "  Why." 
says  the  great  Edwards, "  should  we  be  afraid  to  let 
})ersons,  that  are  in  an  infinitely  miserable  condition, 
know  the  truth,  or  bring  them  into  the  light,  for  fear 
it  should  terrify  them  ^  It  is  light  that  must  convert 
them,  if  ever  they  are  converted.  The  more  we 
bring  siimers  into  the  light,  while  they  are  misera- 
h\i\  and  the   light   is  terrible   to  them,  the  more 


43 

likely  it  is,  that  by  and  by,  the  light  will  be  joyful  to 
them."*  And  how  does  such  a  course  as  this  dis- 
courage the  sinner  ?  Do  we  not  set  before  him  the 
fulness  and  freeness  of  the  great  salvation  ?  Do  we 
not  on  the  authority  of  God  invite  and  urge  him  to 
come  to  Christ,  and  tell  him  that  whosoever  cometh, 
he  will  in  no  wise  cast  out?  Is  this  discourage- 
ment ?  Or  must  we,  in  order  to  encourage  him,  com- 
fort him  in  his  sins,  and  tell  him  there  is  hope  for 
men,  while  they  reject  the  Saviour  ?  And  whom 
does  such  a  course  discourage  ?  Any  other  than  the 
man  who  persists  in  enlightened  rebellion?  Any 
other  than  the  sinner  who  perseveres  in  anxious  and 
remorseful  impenitence?  Nothing  prevents  him 
from  receiving  Christ,  but  wickedness,  mere  wicked- 
ness^ wickedness  that  he  has  already  cherished  and 
defended  too  long,  and  for  which  he  now  sees  he  has 
no  excuse.  And  must  such  a  sinner  be  encouraged 
and  comforted  ? 

Ministers  of  the  Gospel  should  remember  that  the 
weight  of  their  ministry  lies  in  beseeching  men  to 
become  reconciled  to  God.  Ministers  may  preach 
the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  generally,  and  illustrate 
and  defend  them  with  ability;  but  if  they  fail  in 
urging  the  present  obligations  of  the  Gospel  on 
impenitent  sinners,  they  do  not  make  the  weight  of 
their  ministry  their  proper  business.  And  when 
g.ood  men,  who  have  failed  in  this  matter  in  theory, 
have  been  thrust  into  the  field  of  action,  their  wea- 
pons have  failed  them,  and  they  have  been  obliged 

*  Thoughts  on  the  Revival,  kc.  page  195. 


44 

to  shift  their  ground.  The  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
loses  its  weight  and  authority,  if  ministers  feel  em- 
barrassed in  addressing  the  requisitions  of  the  Gospel 
to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  unrenewed  men. 
Many  a  minister  is  spoiled,  because  in  this  most  im- 
portant part  of  all  his  duty,  he  does  not  know  how 
to  engage  in  his  Master's  business.  And  every  min- 
ister may  be  satisfied  that  he  has  fallen  into  some 
error  in  doctrine,  if  he  feels  this  practical  embar- 
rassment. It  is  the  business  of  a  minister  so  to 
preach  as  to  leave  the  impression  on  the  minds  of 
sinners,  that  he  has  a  right  to  expect  that  they  will 
at  once  cease  to  do  evil,  and  learn  to  do  well.  In 
such  a  course  of  duty  he  feels  strong.  He  knows 
that  God  is  with  him,  and  that  the  consciences  of 
his  hearers  are  with  him.  And  he  feels  that  the 
truth  he  utters  holds  a  dominion  over  the  consciences 
of  men,  and  exerts  an  authority  upon  them  which 
nothing  can  gainsay  or  resist.  Though  infinitely 
inferior  to  his  Master,  yet  in  this  respect  he  resem- 
bles him,  and  teaches  his  fellow  men,  as  one  "having 
authority,  and  not  as  the  Scribes."  I  do  not  speak 
with  hesitation  on  this  subject.  Ministers  who  have 
not  learned  their  duty  in  this  particular,  must  learn 
it  from  experience.  "Whatever  minister,"  says  the 
experienced  preacher  whose  sentiments  we  have 
already  more  than  once  recited,  "Whatever  minis- 
ter has  occasion  to  deal  with  souls  under  anxiety,  J 
cannot  but  think  he  will  soon  find  himself  under  a 
necessity  greatly  to  insist  upon  it  with  them,  that 
God  is  under  no  manner  of  obligation  to  show  anv 


45 

mercy  to  any  natural  man,  whose  heart  is  not  turn- 
ed to  God ;  and  that  a  man  can  challenge  nothing 
in  absolute  justice,  or  by  free  promise,  from  miy  thing 
he  does^  before  he  has  believed  in  Jesus  Christ,  or 
has  true  repentance  begun  in  him.  It  appears  to 
me,  if  I  had  taught  those  who  came  to  me  under 
trouble  any  other  doctrine,  I  should  have  taken  a 
most  direct  course  utterly  to  have  undone  them.  I 
should  have  directly  crossed  what  was  plainly  the 
drift  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  his  influences  upon 
them ;  for  if  they  had  believed  what  I  said,  it  would 
either  have  promoted  self-flattery  and  carelessness, 
and  so  put  an  end  to  their  awakenings ;  or  cherished 
and  established  their  contention  and  strife  with  God. 
concerning  his  dealings  with  them  and  others,  and 
blocked  up  their  way  to  that  humihation  before  the 
Sovereign  Disposer  of  life  and  death,  whereby  God 
is  wont  to  prepare  them  for  his  consolations.  I 
think  I  have  found  that  no  discourses  have  been 
more  remarkably  blessed,  that  those  in  which  the 
doctrine  of  God's  absolute  sovereignty  with  regard 
to  the  salvation  of  sinners,  and  his  just  Uberty  with 
regard  to  answering  the  prayers,  or  succeeding 
the  pains  of  mere  natural  men  have  been  insisted 
on."* 

We  cannot  deem  it  an  unimportant  matter,  that 
ministers  faithfully  discharge  their  duty  in  this  par- 
ticular. There  is  no  danger  in  directing  men  at 
once  to  repent  and  believe  the  Gospel.  This  is  the 
direction,  the  wisdom  of  which  is  fortified  by  sound 

*  Eflward's  Narrative,  frc.    Opera.  Vol.  III.  pa^e  34. 


46 

experience.  This  is  the  direction  of  the  Bible, 
Witness  the  conduct  of  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost. Witness  the  interview  between  the  Apostles 
and  the  anxious  Jailer  at  Philippi.  Witness  the 
direction  of  our  Lord  to  a  class  of  men  who  super- 
seded the  obligations  to  inward  holiness  by  their 
external  observances,  when  he  said,  "  Cleanse  first 
that  which  is  within.^''  Witness  his  reply  to  the 
question,  "  What  shall  we  do,  that  we  might  work 
the  works  of  God  ?"  when  he  said, "  This  is  the  work 
of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  the  name  of  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ."  Witness  the  entire  Scriptures.  This  com- 
prehensive direction  may  be  followed,  and  the  sinner 
may  do  his  duty.  This  may  be  followed,  and  the 
sinner  will  be  safe.  I  say  again,  it  is  at  the  peril  of 
ministers  to  quiet  the  consciences  of  anxious  sinners, 
or  in  the  least  diminish,  or  relax  their  obligations  to 
repent  and  believe  the  Gospel.  Ministers  should 
not  fail  to  let  their  people  distinctly  understand, 
that  their  first  and  most  important  work  is  to  become 
reconciled  to  God.  Let  the  ministry  be  pure  from 
the  blood  of  all  men.  Be  it  our  business  to  let  our 
fellow  men  know  that  to  repent  and  believe  the 
Gospel,  is  a  duty  on  which  their  whole  eternity 
is  suspended,  and  which  requires  despatch.  Never 
may  we  cease  to  tell  them  to  go  about  it  immediately, 
and  to  "  salute  no  man  by  the  way."  We  may  not 
vary  from  the  spirit  of  these  injunctions.  There  are 
a  thousand  ways  that  lead  to  hell ;  there  is  only  one 
that  conducts  to  heaven.  We  have  nothing  to  do 
with  conductins  our  hearers  in   the  wav  to   hell 


47 

We  may  not  take  upon  ourselves  the  responsibility 
of  deciding  which  of  the  numerous  ways  that  lead 
to  that  dark  abode  is  the  safest  and  best.  God  has 
not  decided.  The  best  of  them  is  the  way  of  sin 
and  death.  So  long  as  there  is  this  one  way  to 
heaven,  our  business  is  to  direct  them  thither  in  this 
only  way.  It  is  a  strait  and  narrow  path,  but  there 
is  no  other.  Except  they  repent,  they  shall  all  like- 
wise perish.  And  they  have  no  time  to  lose  in 
fruitless  exertions.  The  next  admonition  they  hear, 
may  be,  cut  it  down.  The  next  pUce  they  occupy 
may  be  the  mansion  of  the  dead.  The  next  assem- 
bly to  which  they  are  convoked,  may  be  the  con- 
gregated universe  before  the  Son  of  Man. 


•■YOIL  /'.-V;..-  .V'.Vt^fft..«,;.>iJ'avv'/  !  - 


